Hora by KeepTool, GmbH.

TOAD - Quest Software ( Orafaq review )
RapidSQL - Embarcadero ( Orafaq review )
SQLNavigator - Quest ( Orafaq review )
SQL Programmer 2001 for Oracle - BMC (recently purchased from Sylvain Faust) ( Orafaq review )
ManageIT SQL-Station - CA (Computer Associates)
Expediter/SQL - Compuware
PL/SQL Developer - Allround Automation ( Orafaq review )
Golden, PL Edit, GoldView, GoldLoad - Benthic Software (shareware)
EZSQL - John Dorlon( Orafaq review )
Keeptool (Hora, ER-Diagrammer, PL/SQL-Debugger)

Hora
Hora is the flagship product of KeepTool GmbH and they should be very proud of what they have created. From starting out as a wrapper for a series of SQL scripts, the product has grown into a fully fledged database administration and development tool. The user interface involves a multitude of screens available from an Outlook style list of icons running down the left edge of the screen - since there are so many facets to Oracle administration there is even a customizable "Favorites" list.

Selecting any of the items from the list then displays a summary page for that item. From here it is possible to perform numerous actions against the database (such as dropping or creating new objects of this type) or change to other tabs containing more detailed information. The wealth of information provided in incredible, yet the interface chosen keeps everything logically grouped and easy to navigate. At first it might seem daunting to someone new to Oracle, but it would actually be a good way of learning what Oracle is capable of and how concepts relate to each other. The following is a list of top-level screens available currently:

To give you a quick idea of coverage, the "Tables" screen begins with a very detailed list of all tables within the schema. Right-clicking on any specific table presents around 20 options, ranging from creating a new table, to moving the object to a new tablespace, to listing the chained rows within the table. At the same time 13 tabs across the screen provide access to further details such as partitions, dependencies, access control and audit settings. Selecting items within each tab then provides even more options - it quickly becomes difficult to think of options and details that aren't included.

Going through every screen available could turn this review into a multi-volume novel so I will leave this as an exercise for yourself when you download the trial. I've been using Oracle for quite a few years but I still came across functionality that I haven't touched in a long time (sometimes ever) - the depth of coverage is certainly impressive. The remainder of this section will instead focus on features that are particularly appealing and unique.

One feature in particular appealed right from the start - a pair of options known as SQL Preview and SQL Recording. The preview option shows every statement before its execution, providing an opportunity to review the command being submitted and even modify it or cancel it. Remember that everything in Oracle is essentially done as SQL and the power of this functionality quickly becomes apparent. Firstly it provides a level of comfort for those people used to administering Oracle from the command line - you can see the exact syntax Hora will issue to Oracle to achieve what you have requested. Second it provides a mechanism to modify the command, just incase Hora doesn't provide enough flexibility or isn't aware of obscure / new syntax options. Meanwhile, the recording option logs every command issued to a logfile - this provides both a convenient audit trail and the ability to test-run commands in a non-production environment and then re-issue the exact commands as a script when confident. These features really indicate that the developers are aware of what's required in the real world - they've been there.

The SQL screen is also first class in terms of functionality. A flexible hierarchical repository allows users to save common statements and share them amongst team members with total flexibility. The ability to save, organise and share SQL commands really makes good sense once you understand the concept. Also available is a file explorer tree that incorporates support for Version Control software. Running a query presents the results at the bottom of the screen in multiple formats and provides a simple mechanism for converting the results into an updateable record set. Code snippets (including hints, functions and pragmas) and code completion help write queries, whilst the explain plan provides insight into Oracle's expected execution approach.

Also worthy of mention are the import, export and reporting options presented within the SQL screen. A wizard helps you to import data from Excel, Access, XML and various other formats, whilst exporting can be performed to 15 different formats (including Excel, PDF, XML and CSV to name a few) with a wonderful range of options depending on the format chosen. With the ability to save and load export options, gone are the days of copying and pasting to a different tool and then manually formatting the result. Finally, there is a Fast Reports report formatter (similar to Crystal Reports) for creating reports destined for an art gallery - or perhaps senior management!

The SQL Query Builder is yet another component accessible within the SQL screen. It provides a graphical interface for building SQL statements. It uses the referential integrity defined within the database to automatically join tables and provides access to many SQL options such as aliasing, aggregation, filtering and sorting. The tool is capable of building Select, Insert, Update and Cursor For statements and returns the result in the SQL screen at the current cursor location.

The Data Browser screen offers another way of viewing data. This screen begins by allowing the selection of a table and the optional application of a filter (essentially a simple Where clause). Results can be viewed as either a table view, record view or text view (similar to SQL*Plus output), and options exist to export to Excel, create a report, create insert or update statements in addition to standard navigation, insert, edit and delete options. A powerful feature of this screen is the ability to open linked tables using the "Goto Master Table" and "Goto Detail Table" options - which list all tables linked by referential integrity and provide a simple way to navigate around data very quickly. The same functionality is also provided within the Contents tab of the Tables screen.

The Dictionary screen is a simple yet also very useful tool. It provides access to all of the tables and views available internally within Oracle (i.e.: ignoring those created by users). There are hundreds of these, offering information about the database and its contents. Thankfully, Oracle has been very diligent at providing embedded comments for these tables and their columns. Hora provides a searchable interface to these table comments, column lists and column comments - thus providing a nice mechanism for discovering some of the internal information and instrumentation that Oracle makes available. Other included screens such as Database, Performance and SGA & Statistics provide considerable insight into the database - especially when investigating performance problems.

ER Diagrammer

The ER diagrammer product can be used to generate entity relationship models based on an existing database schema. After logging in to a destination database the schema to diagram can be selected along with an "Exclude Standalone Tables LIKE" clause (which defaults to any table containing $_ in it's name) and finally an option to include referenced tables that reside in another schema.

A structured ER diagram is then produced with an automatic layout. Tables can be dragged and rearranged at will - the relationship links follow the tables. Multiple subset pages can be created in addition to the entire diagram by using a simple selection tool - very handy for creating logical subsets of complex models. Also, there is the ability to add columns to existing tables and even create additional tables within the diagram.

Diagrams can be saved in a custom format and an "Update from schema" option allows changes to be incorporated without losing previous layout changes. A drop-down list of tables in the lower-left corner make it quick to locate tables lost within large diagrams.

HTML Documentation Generator
The HTML documentation generator is a simple program used to produce a large HTML file documenting a chosen database schema. The documentation can be generated in either English or German and provides a filter for table selection and a second filter for PL/SQL object selection. A single output file can also be selected.

Once generated, the HTML document is broken into a table section and a PL/SQL object section. The table section has a hyper-linked list of all tables followed by specific details for each table. The details provided include a comment, column details (including datatype, nullable, default and comments), constraints, indexes, triggers, detail tables and a referenced-by-object section. The PL/SQL object section has a hyper-linked list of all objects followed by specific details for each object. The details provided include the text of the object, a references-object section and a referenced-by-object section.

PL/SQL Debugger

The PL/SQL Debugger product is a useful tool for creating and investigating PL/SQL blocks. The tool provides all standard debugging options including: The ability to Run, Step, Trace Into and Trace Out, the ability to add variable watch lists and evaluate and modify variable contents, the ability to add, toggle and remove breakpoints and a call stack. Also included is a window for tracking DBMS_OUTPUT commands.

The debugger includes syntax highlighting to improve the readability of PL/SQL code and right-clicking on the code provides an additional range of options such as Explain Plans, an Object Browser, formatting and searching options. The overall result is a more than capable PL/SQL development environment that is closely tied to the main Hora product.

Database Reverse Engineer
The database reverse engineer product is a DDL generator. Using the tool is quite straight forward. The first thing to do is connect to an Oracle schema. Then, on the left side of the screen is a list of object types to generate DDL for - object types can be included or excluded as desired. On the right is a large number of tabs representing each object type. Inside each tab is a list of all objects allowing the selection of specific objects if required - in addition to individual and all/none type selection there is also string matching facilities available, making it quick and easy to select from a large number of objects.

The only other option is an output filename to write the DDL into. The whole product is very fast to use and generates clean, commented and sensible DDL quite fast. To give an indication of speed, a 16,000+ line (300KB) DDL script took less than 1 minute to generate on a moderately slow PC connected to a remote database. The DDL generated also has some handy commented out sections such as connect statements and drop statements before certain commands that are likely to be required. Overall, it's a fairly simple tool but it does a very nice job of generating DDL and when combined with the file comparison tool provides a mechanism for easily comparing schema differences.

SQL Editor
The SQL Editor product is a text editor designed to assist with writing individual SQL queries and scripts. It provides regular text editor features such as block indentation, search and replace functionality, block commenting, case conversion and bookmarking. It also provides syntax highlighting and options to connect to a database, execute queries and commit or rollback the results.

Hora can be licensed in either single-workstation or floating license mode for the same price. In addition to this there is a "Take Home" license accumulator. This facilitates use of the floating license on portable computers. Essentially, a client associated with a floating license will continue to function when disconnected from the base network for a period of 30 days. Once the client is reconnected to the base network the license validity is automatically reset back to 30 days - great for roaming consultants or for anyone who might have to work outside their regular environment periodically.